QFP answers the questions, "What services should be offered to a client who is in need of family planning, and how should those services be provided?" It does this by drawing on existing clinical recommendations and by filling gaps where they existed -- such as in how to provide contraceptive counseling, serve male clients, and address the special needs of adolescent clients.

Define services to offer in a family planning visit and describe how to provide those services—for women and men

Are designed for use with patients who need services related to preventing or achieving pregnancy

Are based on a rigorous, systematic, transparent review of the evidence and with input from a broad range of clinical experts, OPA and CDC

Encourage use of the family planning visit to provide other essential preventive health services such as breast and cervical cancer screening

Include a special section on serving the unique needs of adolescents

The QFP recommendations support all primary care providers in delivering quality family planning services and define family planning services within a broader context of preventive services, to improve health outcomes for women, men and their (future) children.

Click on image for enlarged version

In QFP, family planning services are embedded within a broader framework of preventive health services.

Click on image for enlarged version

QFP lays out a clinical pathway of family planning services delivery for women and men of reproductive age both for the reproductive health and the primary care settings. Source: MMWR, April 25, 2014.

The recommendations are designed to help men and women achieve their desired number and spacing of healthy children.

QFP Development

The QFP was developed using a rigorous process consistent with procedures recommended by the Institute of Medicine the US Preventive Services Task Force and international organizations. These procedures emphasize the involvement of external experts, the use of evidence to the extent possible, and transparency in the process of developing the recommendations. The evidence used to prepare the QFP recommendations will be published separately.

"The QFP draw on the best evidence to guide the delivery of the best care," Susan B. Moskosky, Acting Director, Office of Population Affairs

QFP integrates and fills gaps in existing guidelines for the family planning settings.

Updates to QFP

QFP integrates and fills gaps in existing guidelines for the family planning settings. QFP references numerous other clinical guidelines that are published by federal agencies, as well as guidelines released by professional medical associations. Since these guidelines are updated on a frequent basis, CDC and OPA will compile updates regularly.